Hunter Academy - Book 1

A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP

Jessica

I wake up to my phone ringing. I take it off the charger and answer without checking the ID.

"Hello?"

"Jessica, darling! We haven't spoken in so long! How have you been?" I groan. This is not how I wanted to start my morning. This was the last person I wanted to talk to. I avoid her like the plague. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what she wants, but she certainly isn't getting it.

"Hello, mother. I'm as well as I always am."

"Good, good. I'm glad to hear it. Your father and I were wondering if we could get together for lunch since it's been so long since we've seen you."

"I don't have time for lunch, Mother. Why don't you just ask me over the phone what it is you want." I know exactly what she wants. Money. It's always money. Memaw is Father's mom. The money I have in my trust came from Mother's parents. They worked hard their entire lives to build a fortune. They quickly realized that my parents were not responsible with money. My parents like to live like the money will never run out, so my grandparents set their trust up to have a certain amount given them each month. How they blow through $10,000 a month boggles my mind, but I guess it isn't too hard considering their lifestyle. A couple of times a year they call me up, schmooze me, trying to get me to give them some money "just to get them through." I never do. It was part of the contract I had to sign for my trust to be passed to me. I have no problems saying no. My parents and I have never been close, considering I had to be the grown up throughout my entire childhood. If it weren't for Memaw and Kriss, heaven only knows how bad it would have been.

"Fine," says in a huff, "your Father and I are in a bit of a tight spot and were wondering if you could loan us fifteen to get us through until our next payment."

"Mother, your monthly payment doesn't even cover what you are asking me for. You know good and well that I can't loan you, or give you, any money from my trust."

"What about some money that you make when you do that bartending stuff?" I laugh.

"I donate every bit of it and you know it." I do, too. KC Pet Project, City Union Mission, and JDRF get all my "working" money. My trust gives me $20,000 a month. Much more than I need. I only spend about $6,000 of it each month on rent and utilities since I turned 18, so needless to say I have quite a bit saved up. I will probably never go through the large amount of money my grandparents set up for me.

"You could give it to us, and the trust company would never find out."

"Not taking the chance, Mother." This makes her angry.

"You are a horrible child, making your parents beg for money like beggars in the street! If I had known how ungrateful of a child we would have, we would have never had any at all! I can't believe you won't help your parents out in their time of need!" She huffing, having used all her air to yell at me. Now I'm riled up. After last night, I'm just over trying to placate her.

"Really, Mother? You are allotted ten thousand dollars a month. Somehow you and Father manage to burn through it within days of receiving it, and you're calling me ungrateful? You don't even have to earn it! It's just given to you! Neither of you worked my entire childhood, just took what was given to you. Your lifestyle is out of hand! You want some money? Go earn it! Work like normal people do! Move into a smaller house! Drive less expensive cars! Sell off some stuff in your house! For fuck's sake, stop going out every night, going to the most expensive restaurants and shows!" Now I'm huffing, but I don't let her continue to rant at me, I simply hang up on her. Going through my apps, I block her number and my Father's. I am so over dealing with them. Maybe a little bit of hardship will do them some good. I know it seems hypocritical of me, but at least I'm working toward getting a career. I have no plans to just live off my grandparents' hard earned money.

I throw the covers off and get out of bed. I pad my way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. A quick shower is in order to wash the sleep away. After showering and dressing for the day, I grab my phone and sit at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. I pull up the apps Pretty Boy installed on my phone. I press the green karate belt icon, and wait for him to answer. I told Sparta I would call, so I'm calling. A sleepy voice answers.

"Good morning, Snow. Did you finally sleep well?"

"I did, until I got an unpleasant phone call that woke me."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Let's just say my parents and  I don't see eye to eye, and my mother didn't like what I had to say to her."

"Okay, well if you ever want to talk about it, I've got a willing ear. I'm sorry about what happened when you fell asleep in the tub. She might have been able to hurt you in your dreams, but they can't carry over to the real world, although I'm sure it felt very real. You will just have to make sure you don't have any unscheduled naps until we can figure this thing out. We followed up on the article you sent us, and we contacted the people who wrote it, and have an appointment later this week with them. We think they may be able to help us. They are religious historians, specializing in demonology."

"That's amazing! I'm glad my Memaw and I were able to find something useful."

"Your Memaw?"

"Yeah. My grandmother. I tell her everything, and after I left your office I went straight to her house. She helped me do some internet research. I knew she would take it well. She's a pretty great lady."

"She sounds like it."

"Do you think I could road trip with you guys? I'm really curious what these guys have to say about our demon, and if there's a way we can get her to stop killing people." It's eating away at me, the need to stop her. Knowing she's after me, every person that she hurts takes a little piece of my heart.

"I don't see why that would be a problem. I'll text you when we have a firm plan."

"Sounds good. I look forward to it. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, Snow. Talk to you later." I hang up the phone and sigh. I really could listen to him read me the phone book. Shaking away those thoughts, I call up Memaw, and tell her all about last night and this morning, and that I would be going on a road trip with the guys to find out more. She was angry about my mother calling again, but was excited we had been able to find some helpful information in regards to the demon. We exchange goodbyes and hang up. I shoot a text to Cara asking if her and Belle want to try dinner again tonight. I immediately get a reply in the affirmative. I move to the couch and pull up a book on my Kindle, and get lost in a world of wolf shifters.